Tandjung Sari in Sanur: Balinese Boutique Luxury at Its Best

This peaceful beachfront hotel in Bali’s east coast town of Sanur is the epitome of Balinese luxury. Read on for my first-hand Tandjung Sari review after a blissful week-long stay.

Looking for the best accommodation in Sanur? There are some incredible luxury, brand-name beachfront hotels in Sanur to pick from…but here is the one that you’ll absolutely want to note down for your future Bali trip if you want to experience your own little slice of paradise away from the crowds.

Tandjung Sari, meaning “Cape of Flowers”, started as a family home in the early 1950s. Today, it offers a small collection of bungalows inspired by traditional Balinese architecture.

Featuring colorful tilework, the rooms are absolutely spotless and incredibly spacious – most bungalows have their own garden and shaded outdoor seating area.

With the lovingly manicured gardens and pristine private beach area, you will be hard pressed to find a reason to leave Tandjung Sari – here’s what you need to know about booking a stay.

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The Rooms at Tandjung Sari

Tandjung Sari refers to itself as a “hand-made resort”, and that is because its standalone cottages, or bungalows, were constructed by local craftsmen – nothing is mass-produced here.

Scattered across the grounds, each of its 30-or so bungalows offer privacy and a huge amount of space, with the “basic” Village bungalow coming in at approximately 45 square meters.

Each bungalow at Tandjung Sari has its own character and colour scheme, with vibrant handmade tiles offset by the warm, thatched roof and wooden furniture around the room – a perfect balance of modern comforts and an ode to traditional Balinese design.

The room is kept perfectly cool during the day, and on warmer evenings all you have to do is press a button to turn the air conditioning on. Featuring both an indoor soaking tub and open-air rain shower, we loved the luxurious amenities as well as bottled drinking water which was replenished daily.

For those craving more room to move around you can always opt for the humongous Garden Sea View bungalow or Family bungalow.

The Facilities at Tandjung Sari

The grounds at Tandjung Sari are lovingly maintained, and the private beach complete with sun loungers under the shade of swaying palm trees is the best on the whole Sanur coast. If having beach access is important to you, then you can’t go wrong with the Tandjung Sari.

In the evening, the beach is illuminated by paper lanterns strewn from palm to palm, and you can opt for a barefoot dinner under the stars on the powdery sand.

The 15-meter salt water pool, while small, is perfect for a refreshing quick afternoon dip and located next to the outdoor restaurant. There is also an intimate library-slash-reading room, gift shop where you will find many local handicrafts, as well as an on-site fitness center.

The Tandjung Sari never feels crowded, unlike the other major chain hotels down the strip. While it doesn’t have a portfolio of facilities, it is easy enough to hop on a bicycle and go to a nearby kids club/indoor playroom or other restaurants and cafes.

There are also beach clubs like Byrd House, Prama Samur or Komune in Keramas where you can set up shop for the day and use their facilities.

The Dining Options at Tandjung Sari

Just like the rest of the property, the beachfront restaurant at Tandjung Sari is classy – the setting is idyllic and the food is done to perfection.

The on-site restaurant serves up mouthwatering Indonesian as well as international fare – do yourself a favour and try their soto ayam, a traditional chicken soup with thin vermicelli noodles. They also serve up a killer battered fish sandwich with garlic aioli.

I am not usually a breakfast person, but found myself eagerly looking forward to our morning feast at Tandjung Sari – from the vibrant kaleidoscope-esque fruit platter to the hearty egg burritos (sans goats cheese for me), we never left remotely hungry. The portions are generous, produce is wonderfully fresh and the taste of every item on the menu is mouthwateringly good.

Breakfast is essentially served from an a-la-carte menu where you can order bakery items, fresh fruit juice, a main and coffee or tea. I made it a point to force myself to try something different each day, but it was hard to pull myself away from the absolutely delicious mie goreng.

You won’t find anywhere else that offers a breakfast as plentiful and delicious as Tandjung Sari – the variety is mindboggling and you could easily stay there for 2 weeks without having the same meal twice. The restaurant caters to most dietary requirements and restrictions. We also found them to be very flexible when ordering meals for our toddler.

Things to do around Tandjung Sari

Sanur has quickly become one of my personal favorite Bali destinations. It offers ease of access (just 20-30 minutes from the airport), little to no traffic, plenty of day trip options, fantastic restaurants and cafes, and clean beaches.

We spent most days sauntering up and down the Sanur boardwalk, popping into coffee shop after coffee shop and in the afternoons, lazily traversing over from Tandjung Sari (which is located about mid-way down the length of the boardwalk) to a beachfront restaurant for cocktails and dinner.

If you’re after a more active holiday you can also learn to surf in Sanur (the surf season in Sanur tends to run from about November to late February), or practice yoga at one of the studios.

Popular Sanur day trip options include heading out to East Bali to visit the Pura Lempuyang complex, Taman Ujung water palace, Tirta Gangga and the Lahangan Sweet viewpoint; taking a speedboat out to explore the Nusa Islands; or visit Bali’s very own winery – Sababay. More ideas for things to do in Sanur here.

Is the Tandjung Sari family-friendly?

This is a difficult question to answer, because the answer is yes…and perhaps no, depending on your expectations. Personally, we traveled with our toddler (2 at the time) and he just loved roaming around the space and grounds at Tandjung Sari – it is a quiet and peaceful retreat, but warm and welcoming to all types of travelers including families.

In terms of equipment, a sturdy wooden cot with a canopy-style mosquito net can be provided in the rooms for babies and toddlers. The restaurant had plenty of high chairs and were very accommodating with special off-menu requests for our child, and the pool has a shallow wading area for young kids.

That being said, the demographic of people who stay at the Tandjung Sari tends to skew towards a slightly older crowd who are looking for a peaceful setting. During our week-long stay, there were only two other families with young children there.

As the swimming pool is relatively small (15-meters long) and located next to the restaurant, we were always conscious not to create too much noise as we did not want to disturb anyone. If you are looking for a family-centric hotel with large pool areas and a kids club, this may not be the right fit for you.

For us, it was not an issue as we happily ventured over to other properties during the day like the Hyatt Regency Bali to use the kids club (at a small fee) and to Shotgun Social for the outdoor playground. Hotels like the Prama Sanur further south down the waterfront also offer day passes to use their waterpark-esque pools.

Certain types of rooms, like the Beach Front and Two Storey bungalows feature a split-level loft area and are therefore not suitable for families with children.

Long story short, it really depends on what you are after – you might want to consider alternative accommodation like Hyatt Regency Bali, Andaz Bali or Maya Sanur if having resort-style facilities is non-negotiable. You should know, however, that the rooms at these larger resorts will often be much more compact, and will likely be far less private than that at Tandjung Sari.

The verdict

We highly recommend booking your stay at Tandjung Sari, a family-owned boutique hotel in Sanur that is the epitome of Balinese luxury and charm. It was an absolute highlight of our latest Bali trip.

It’s not flamboyant, nor does it need to be. It’s not the biggest property, because that would defeat the purpose. The Tandjung Sari is a perfect example where everything it does, it does to perfection with a light touch and lots of care.

At the heart of the hotel is the wonderful staff, a team that works together seamlessly so that nothing (and I mean nothing) falls through the cracks – the 6-star service is some of the best you will experience not only in Bali, but also in Asia.

If you are planning a Sanur trip do yourself a favor and check the availability at Tandjung Sari – you won’t regret it. I hope this Tandjung Sari hotel review helps you better plan your Bali travels!

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• Planning a trip to Bali can be overwhelming. Here is my easy 2 week Bali itinerary for first time visitors
• Sanur is a no-brainer if you are looking for a quieter beach destination in Bali, but still want easy access to plenty of restaurants and cafes. Here is my Sanur travel guide
• Canggu is another popular beach destination in Bali. Read this for my Canggu travel guide
• Headed to Ubud? Here are the best things to do in Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital
• Venturing to the Bukit Peninsula? You’ll want to read this guide on the best things to do in Uluwatu
• If you plan on spending time in the northern mountain region of Bali here is my guide to the best things to do in Munduk and Bedugul
• Southeast Asia is one of the most exciting regions, but there are many common misconceptions about this part of the world. Read this before you travel to Southeast Asia!

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